– energy chamber president commends appointment of local-content panel, says work will be monitored

ADEQUATE local participation in the new oil-and-gas sector will depend heavily on strong local content regulations implemented by the Government of Guyana, which has already received several proposals regarding local content from private sector organisations.
President of the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber, Maniram Prashad has called on the government to carefully examine those “local-content proposals”, and establish critical regulations so that no Guyanese is left behind.

It was reported that the former APNU+AFC administration had created a local content policy after many consultations with various stakeholders.
This policy framework recognises the broader goal of the previous administration to optimise national income from development of the country’s sovereign hydrocarbon resources, and prudently invest these revenues to transform the economy to the benefit of all Guyanese, now and in the future.
The policy was designed to deliver both short-term opportunities for Guyanese citizens and Guyanese suppliers, and longer-term capacity building by raising the standards of Guyanese industries to be internationally competitive.
Prashad, however, believes that the previous administration had created the policy without meaningful consultations, and had ignored the advice and recommendations given by local-content experts.

Considering what obtained in the past, the Chamber’s president said the new government made the ‘right’ move by appointing a “Local-Content Panel”, which comprises ‘knowledgeable and experienced’ individuals from Guyana and abroad.

Among some of the persons on the panel are president of the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) Shyam Nokta, who chairs the panel; former Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Energy Kevin Ramnarine; former Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; and Energy Consultant Dr. Anthony Paul.
Prashad said the work of this panel will be monitored by the Chamber, and assistance will be provided when the need arises.
“It is important that all Guyanese benefit from our oil and gas industry; the benefit must trickle down to all Guyanese, especially the poor and vulnerable,” Prashad said.
It was reported that Guyanese have enjoyed immense benefits from its traditional economic sectors over the years, but a new entrant, in the form of oil and gas, presents new benefits, which Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat believes could be better accessed, once there is proper local-content legislation.
The lucrative oil and gas sector, which officially came on stream in 2015, has been productive, but there has been no regulatory/legal framework in place to guide the utilisation of local content in the sector.

Despite the aims and objectives of the policy, Minister Bharrat is of the firm view that a policy is not enough.
“The previous administration spoke about first oil; oil and gas, and all this talk about the industry, and there is no local-content legislation; no draft of it… There is a local- content policy, but you need a legal framework to ensure that things happen,” said the minister during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

He said that having a policy is not enough to hold a major player, or any player, in the oil-and-gas sector accountable, as there is nothing binding or regulating their operations.